The installation of CCTV (Closed Circuit Television Cameras) in the "Back of Town" will be delayed until a buyer is found for Quantum Communications.

According to the Corporation of Hamilton, residents and businesses in the area are now behind having the cameras which are linked to the Police on Court Street.

But the contract for the CCTV is held with Quantum, which folded, causing huge debt to investors.

The operation been up for sale by Belco Holdings Ltd., the majority shareholder in the failed venture, for two years, so far without a buyer.

And while Belco continues to run the CCTV service for the Corporation, it will not install new parts of the system.

"We will install CCTV in Court Street as soon as the new fibre system provider is settled," said Roger Sherratt, secretary of the Corporation. "We are waiting to see who buys Quantum."The system operates on Quantum fibre-optic cable and no more cable will be laid until the a new owner for Quantum is found.

The Minister of Finance, Eugene Cox, is currently deciding on whether to waive the 60/40 ownership rules for Cable and Wireless so it can up its stake in the company.

BELCO holds a 45 percent stake in Quantum while Cable and Wireless have 35 percent.

Fort Knox, a locally owned company, also wants a piece of the action in a revived Quantum.

At year end of 1999 Belco wrote off $3.5 million for the loss sustained by the failed Quantum venture, which was a proposed supplier of local data and telephone service.

It is believed between about $15 and $20 million was injected into the company when it started up.

But after being up an running for about a year and a half and the company had only secured about 50 customers (all corporate).

Quantum disconnected its few remaining customers from the system after notifying them that operations would cease on December 31, 1999. This happened after a deal with a potential buyer, Bermudian Alan Simmons, fell through that year.

In January The Royal Gazette reported that Court Street traders backed the installation of CCTV, after initially being against their installation.

But the success of the cameras in Hamilton has prompted the change of heart in North Hamilton.

Mr. Sherratt said he received a petition signed by 20 businesses - about 85 percent of the traders in the area - asking for cameras to be installed in Court Street.

The idea of CCTV was first discussed in 1995 when both the North Hamilton Business Association and the United Bar Owners Association strongly opposed the scheme on behalf of their members.

So the Corporation did not install the cameras at the time on Court Street as they did not want to go against the will of the local community.

Mr. Sherratt said: "Safety and security are considered number one priority in North Hamilton.

"The business association is strongly behind the idea of CCTV and once somebody is declared the new owner of Quantum we will be able to get to work on it right away."